Music-playing instrument.



' PATENTED AUG. '18, 1908.

W. R. GRIPPEN. MUSIC PLAYING INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 7, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Mama. 0mm 3 1? TTUH I NEYS z a citizen of the UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

WALTER ORIPPEN, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO EMERSON PIANOCOMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MIISIC-PLAYING INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October '7, 190 7.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

Serial N0. 396,123.

To-all whom it may concern:

Be it knownt at I, WALTER R. ORIPPEN, nited States, residing atCambridge, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, have i nvented certain newand useful ImprovementsinMusic-PlayingInstruments, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic musical instruments,and particularly to controlling means which may be emloyed for anyuseful purpose, for example ibr controllin pneumatic devices forsecuring expression e ects.

The object of the invention is to provide a means whereby any one ofseveral push buttons, adapted to be manually operated, may be employedfor securing certain desired effects, which buttons may be, if desired,locked in their operative or active position. The arrangement is alsosuch that the operation of one push button will release any of the otherpush buttons that may be locked.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of myinvention as it might be applied to an automatic music playinginstrument. Fig. 2 is mainly a section on the plane of the line 25.ofFig. 4, of one button and associated parts. Fi 3 is a plan view, lookingdown from the p ane of line 3 3'Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectionon the line 44 of Fig. 1. .Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the plane ofthe line '25 of Fig. 4, of several valves and channel board. Fig. 6 is across section on the plane of the line 6-6 Fi 1. Fig. 7 is'a sideelevation of a modifie detail of construction.

A may represent the front board of an automatic music playinginstrument.

BBB -B may represent four push buttons or devices for the manualoperation of separate valves for the regulation of anything that may bedesired, through the medium of ducts CCC C. These ducts are connected toduct extensions in a channel board D, which extensions lead, as laterdescribed, to the aforesaid valves indicated at E-E--E -E In theparticular form shown, these valves are mounted upon stems which connectwith the aforesaid buttons respectively.

l! is a shiftable locking bar through which there are a number ofpassages corresponding to the number of buttons employed. Fixed onthewalve stems respectively are what I will term cones GGG -G Thesecones are preferably slightly smaller than the passages in bar F.Springs H may be employed to return the push buttons BBB"B to theirinactive osition. I is a spring tending to force this ocking bar towardits locking position.

J is an adjustable head to limit the excursion of bar F toward itslocking position.

In its normal position the locking bar stands as shown in Fig. 1, oneside of each of the passages therein standing under the bevel of itsrespective cone. As shown in Fig. 4, it is preferred to have all theduct extensions lead to, and be controlled by, valve E. Three of saidextensionsv lead to valve E, two to valve E and one to valve E Theoperation is as follows: If the button B is depressed partially, it willopen the valve E. Whatever this valve is intended to control throughducts O to C will then be thrown into action, since all the ducts willbe thereby opened. If it is desired to hold this button B down for anylength of time, it is merely necessary to depress it fully or to such anex tent that the cone .G will pass through the locking bar F, whereuponthe lockingbar shifts instantly to the right under the action of springI, so that the parts will assume the position indicated in Fig. 2, saidlocking bar then overstanding the cone G, preventing it from rising. Adifferent control may be effected by simply depressing another one ofthe buttons B B or B A full de ression of the button'B for example, wilnot only open valve E, but will also cast ofi the cone G, so that valveE will close. The control will then be effected through ducts C C only.The partial depression of any of thebuttons may be resorted to, ifdesired, without re leasing any other valve that may be locked open atthat time.

While any one of the buttons B to B may be employed to cast off anyother one of the buttons that may be locked, an additional castoffbutton and cone may be employed, if desired, which would merely serve toshift the locking bar F. This cast-oflt' device might takethe same formas any of the cones previously described, save that it might have aslight upward extension, such as indicated in Fig. 7, at G4 which mightbe substituted in place of the cone G of Fig. 1, for example. Thisupward extension would simply serve to prevent the locking down of thisparticular 110 cone, which in this event would merely perform thefunction of a castofi' and might or might not be provided with a valve.If, for example, such an apparatus were employed for producing diflerentdynamic effects, the valve E might be employed to control pianissimoeflect, E to control piano effect, E forte effect and E double forteefiect. Assuming the composition to be rendered starts with piano, thebutton B would be fullydepressed and locked. To shift to pianissimomerely requires the depression of the button B, whereupon valve E? wouldbe released and close while valve E would be opened, and so on. While Ihave shown certain ducts as extending to more than one valve, obviouslyeach duct might extend to only its respective valve.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, two ducts, two valves, bothof said ducts leading to one of said valves, one of said ducts leadingto the other valve, independent means for operating either of saidvalves independently, and means cooperating therewith to lock one ofsaid operating means in a position to hold its valve open, said lockingmeans being released by the operation of the other operating means.

2. In a device of the character described, two ducts, two valves,bothof: said ducts leading to one of said valves, one of said ductsleading to the other valve, independent means for operating either ofsaid valves independently, and means cooperating therewith to lockeither of said operating means in a position to hold its valve open,said locking means being released by the operation of the otheroperating means.

WALTER R. ("RIPIEN.

Witnesses:

R. C. MITCHELL, LANGDON Moons.

